Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thoughts in the Tariqas - Train rides are not about the stations, but the journey itself.

121. Waiting for a train that will never arrive

The different nuances of the tariqas

Is nothing but different stations

Along the One True Path.

Lo, be warned not to be besotted

By the stations, lest you are

Left in a station, forever waiting

For the train that will

Never arrive.

Know that your Masters are

Not infatuated by the train terminals,

For they know the true reality

Of train travel, and they are

Not swayed in their attention

By the stations that dot

The railway line.

Look! Look closely at

The ticket you are holding,

Don’t you see?

There is no last station

To end your journey.

Hehehe.

How blessed are you.

How blessed are you and me.

Amongst those seekers on the path (tariqa) of enlightenment, much is said about spiritual stations (maqams). But they never actually tell you what is in the stations, only that if you are in one station, the only next action suitable for you is to go to the next station. There are quite a few tariqas out there, I am sure you can google them and find out.

There is certainly some attraction when you are in a spiritual place. A heightened sense of empathy and certainty - empathy for the human race, and certainty in your faith. But however beautiful the view is here, after a while you KNOW life must go on, and YOU must go on. You become restless and ask God for further guidance.

Life is about choice and destiny, yes? And in this journey of knowledge of yourself and of God, perhaps there is indeed no end. No full stop for the enquiring soul, who is constantly yearning for understanding of a God whose delightful clues constantly draws you one step further, to one more station, one after the other.